The present invention relates to the electrical, electronic and computer arts, and, more particularly, to cellular phones and the like.
Cellular phones can be used for reporting emergency situations, e.g. via calling 911 in the United States or similar emergency numbers in other countries. Emergency reporting can be automated to some extent, e.g. by programming a cellular phone to detect the occurrence of a pre-registered event such as movement outside of a defined safe area. Emergency reporting also can be linked to a single gesture such as actuation of a push button, rather than requiring a complete dialing sequence.